Can't Do A Thing
by artificiallysweet
Summary: Booth gets jealous when Bones starts seeing a new man. Lots of angst with eventual romance. ** Chapter 2 is up - Bones throws Booth for a loop.
1. Chapter 1

**CAN'T DO A THING **

Story Summary: Brennan is seeing someone. Booth is jealous. Will the pent up UST become too much and get the better of them both?

Rating: T (for now anyways).

**Chapter One: Can't Do a Thing to Stop Me**

Leaning back into the passenger seat, Brennan continued staring out the window absent mindedly. Closing her eyes, she sighed heavily, "You're an asshole, Booth."

Her date was going well, very well infact. Daniel was funny, smart, incredibly good looking and he could actually hold an intelligent coversation, unlike most of the other men she had gone out with. He practically exhaled confidence, and if her vibes were picking up correctly, she expected he would be the same in the bedroom.

Not that she had any first hand knowledge, yet.

It was 'technically' their fifth date, according to Angela anyway. Brennan was quite confident that they would finally get to spend the night together, uninterupted.

That was, of course, until a certain chocolated eyed FBI agent stuck his nose into her personal life – once again.

First it was 'Bones, we have a body'. Then it was 'Bones, we have an I.D.'

Now it seems as though they had yet another case that demanded her attention right this minute.

"Look Bones, I'm sorry for interrupting your date. It's just, this case – you know how it is."

"What about Zach? Why can't he do a recovery for you? Why must I?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, Booth. There is nothing wrong with Zach doing just one recovery for you. He's completely qualified now, I still don't understand why you have a problem with it. Zach is very competent Booth, he was my grad student, you know." She stressed the point, why was he being so difficult? He was always saying how she should get out more often, and now that she was, he was acting like a jealous teenage boy. _Pfft, and men think women are confusing? Yeah, right._

"The FBI assigned me to work with you. Not some technowiz, robot making, super brain, IQ in the ionisphere, barely our of high school dweeb. You with me, that's how it goes Bones."

Her blood boiled, no way was he gonna play that card with her.

"Stop the car."

"What? No, why?"

"I think I'm going to be sick." Really, it wasn't all that far from the truth.

Quicker than she anticipated, the Tahoe flew to the curb and Brennan swung the door wide, slamming the door behind her, beginning to make her retreat in the opposite direction.

"Hey, woah, hold up, Bones. Where you going?"

"Home." She yelled back, not bothering to turn to face him.

"What happened to being sick?"

"Oops, I lied."

"C'mon Bones, get back in the car."

She just kept walking, barely resiting the urge to stick her middle finger out behind her retreating form.

"A little dramatic don't you think?"

For her, yes, maybe a little. "No!"

"Bones, come on. This isn't funny."

"Piss off Booth."

"What about the case?" He yelled after her, she was almost out of earshot.

"I'll take care of it."

Dammit, Booth thought to himself as he climbed back into the SUV, what the hell had he done to piss her off this time?

Two blocks away Brennan pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and dialled a familiar number.

"Hello, Zach Addy."

"Hi Zach, I didn't wake you did I?"

"Not at all Dr. Brennan, what can I do for you?"

"How would you like to do a recovery for me?"

"I would be honoured."

Thankful, she passed on the information Booth had given her and wished him luck, Agent Booth would be awaiting his arrival.

Disconnecting, she smirked; Booth was going to have a fit when Zach turned up at the crime scene instead of herself.

Quite pleased with herself, she turned the phone again and dialed another number.

"Hi Daniel, it's Tempe. Is it too late to take you up on that raincheck?"

Booth be damned, she was going to get laid tonight. And there wasn't a damned thing he could do to stop her.

2


	2. Chapter 2

**Can't Do A Thing – Chapter Two  
**

In all honestly, he hadn't regarded Brennan as vein-poppingly annoying since their very first cases together. Not since he had complete sanity and authority. Had being the key word.

This spat took the cake. It was the motherlode of all spats. It was Royal Spat. Spat-tastic!

Hell, she'd been so frustrating. He knew it was rude to interrupt yet another one of her dates, and he did feel bad for it, but when Zach turned up at the crime scene calmly and rationally explaining that Doctor Brennan had offered him this recovery – ergo – the case, that was the last straw. She'd really pissed him off.

Executive decision. Right after he was done with the necessary here, he would march right up to her apartment and they were going to sort this mess out. Talk it out like mature adults, just as partners were supposed to do. No way did he want Sweets to get his gossip hungry mitts on this and have him twist and turn it around to come up with some far fetched story. Maybe try weasel another reason how one might interpret their 'involved arguments slash creative differences slash heated discussions' into yet another method of 'subtle seduction'. Or whatever the hell the kid had called it.

It didn't even make sense in his own head. Besides, if he wanted to seduce Bones, she'd know about it. Nothing would be subtle about it.

Good. Decision made. Whatever was bugging her was going to come out into the open tonight, and he wasn't leaving until she coughed up the goodies.

On the other side of town, Brennan was getting ready for her dinner with Daniel. Stepping into the shower she began her usual routine. Exfoliate, hair, legs, moisturising body scrub, blah, blah blah. It all felt like second nature.

Half an hour later, clean and fresh faced, Brennan stepped out of the shower. Wrapping a fresh crisp towel around her damp body, hair and make up done, she began making her way back through to the bedroom. Until a hard knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

Damn interruptions. "Who is it?"

The voice was muffled by the heavy wooden door, but she could tell exactly who it was.

"It's me, Bones."

"Damn it Booth, didn't I tell you to go away?"

Once again his gruff voice came from the other side of the door.

"Open up. I want to talk to you." Followed by harder beating on her door from his clenched fist.

Leaning against the hallway wall, she sighed, she was standing her ground on this one.

"No."

"Please, just open the door."

"Forget it Booth! I have a date to get ready for."

A loud, frustrated groan emitted through the tough silence between them. She smiled to no one in particular. Take that you smug bastard.

Satisfied with the silence, she turned on her heels and retreated back to the bedroom, it was getting a little chilly standing in her living room dressed in nothing but a towel.

Halfway there, she froze. No. No way would he do that. Okay, so maybe he would.

"Don't you dare think about coming in here Booth!"

He made a show of jamming his key into the keyhole, maybe a little bit more forceful than necessary. Oh yes, he was coming in, Temperance Brennan, be it known.

"You could always open the door for me, then I wouldn't have to." One way, or another, as the old song went.

A few second of silence later he heard the slip lock slide and the dead bolt catch open, door swinging wide to reveal a very pissed off woman. So much for standing your ground, Tempe.

"What the Hell is your problem?

Yes, a very, very, very pissed off woman. Clad in nothing but possibly the sexiest deep blue towel he'd ever seen.

"My problem! My problem? Well," Focus man! "My problem is you. Blowing off this case and leaving me with Zach, which by the way, not a very nice thing to do, Bones."

"Oh you wanna talk about nice? Nice is you disturbing my personal life every night to a fault for the last two weeks! Nice is you offending your co-worker and personal friend just because he's smarter than you and because you obviously had no one else close to pick on for petty bullshit reasons. Nice is you being a jackass and not knowing when to leave well enough alone. Yeah, you're real nice too Booth."

"Bones, come on. I already apologised about the whole date thing. Sincerely. Several times."

"And what about Zach? I simply asked if Zach could do this one recovery for me, and how do you react?"

"C'mon, Temperance."

"Shut up Booth, don't you dare 'Temperance' me. You reacted like a spoilt toddler whose Mommy just took away your favourite toy. Juvenile and pathetic Booth. I am not a piece of meat you can just take for your own personal gain whenever you feel fit. You. Don't. Own. Me."

"A piece of meat? Bones, seriously, these loser guys you keep seeing. What do you think they see you as? You're nothing to them. They don't care for who you really are. They don't give a flying fuck about the real you keep hidden in that hard ass shell somewhere. You're just status and sex to them. Just another notch on their bedposts."

"Who I sleep with is none of your God Damn business! For the record, I have never said I wanted anything more than sex from those 'losers'. You're not the only person on the planet with needs."

"Yeah yeah, all your biological urges and anthropological inevitabilities. You deserve something better than that, Temperance. You deserve someone who isn't going to take that big heart of yours for granted. You deserve someone true to love you."

Her voice softened noticeably.

"Yeah, well I'm getting sick of waiting around for you to man it up, Seeley. I'm done with spending my nights alone waiting for you to stop being such a pussy. We're running out of time and I'm not sure how much more waiting I can take."

Defeated, she shook her head. "Just, God, I don't know. Just close the door on your way out."

Seconds later, she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

So, it's been a while. Thanks to everyone who has still been reading, reviewing and favouriting. Love you for it.  
So without further ado, I bring to you: Chapter 3. And I apologise for the shortness....felt like I had to add something in here while I figure out where i'm going next with this story.

Angela's POV

* * *

For the last week, things had been weird. To say the very least. Tense, agrivating and out-of-this-world strange.

Booth rarely came to the insitute, even though a case hadn't come through, he usually made an effort. But only once this week – to see Cam about a case due for trial. Not even a hello or witty remark about the squint squad. Not the usual Booth.

Brennan had become reclusive. Either trapping herself in her office or Limbo. First one in, last one out. Barking out orders at intern-of-the-day. Temperance 'take no prisioners' Brennan had taken over.

What the hell had gone down between those two kids? They've fought before. But never to this scale of extreme. Time for a little heart to heart, me thinks.

"Knock, knock. Time for lunch, Sweetie." I came prepared, handbag and coat in hand. Angela Montenegro means business.

Brennan was bent over her desk, studying reports from her latest Limbo case. She looked tired, and so worn down. Her hair was haphazardly thrown into a messy ponytail somewhere along the line, not the usual picture perfect of professionalism Brennan displayed. Yup, something was definitely not right with this picture.

"That time already? I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, that's why you keep me around. C'mon, get your things. We're going to Gino's for lunch. Girl talk, gossip, all those things we're complete opposites on."

"Angela, is it really necessary?" Did I mention exhausted?

"Yes, life or death necessity. We need to talk about what's going on here." I motioned in Bren's general direction.

"Nothing's going..."

"Uh uh, don't wanna hear it." I walk over behind her and push her chair from behind the desk. "Bren, I love you, but you look like death warmed over. Something is obviously bothering you. We are going to have lunch together, just the two of us, and I would like to help you work through whatever it is you and Special Agent McHottie are quarrelling over this time."

"Thank you, Angela." Grabbing her things and finally heading out the lab, she turned. "Why would you automatically assume this has something to do with Booth?"

"Same reason you automatically assume Special Agent McHottie is Booth."


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all, thanks again for all the kindhearted reviews and favourites, ect.  
I decided to throw a bit of Charlie in here. Love that boy, and we never get to see much of him. So, sharing the Charlie Love.

**Chapter 4 – Booth POV **

Four days. Ninety six hours. Damn, ninety six hours and only 17 hours of sleep. Damn brain not switching off. Damn heated arguments with a scantily towel clad Anthropologist.

Yeah, damn Temperance Brennan.

I groaned and put my head in my hands, what this woman does to me is torture. Pure torture.

How could I have not picked up on the things she was saying, on the signs. I was supposed to _know_ her. At least I thought I did. Man, was I wrong. All the indications were there. The late night dinners running well into overtime - ending up in an invitations to stay the night (in the guest bedroom of course) just to be near, the lingering glances, the now not-so-subtle flirting and innuendos. How could I have not seen that? Temperance Brennan never did anything with subtlety.

'_I'm sick of waiting for you to man it up, Seeley...' _

Those words hit like a ton of bricks. I didn't know what to say, instead just looked and stared at her retreating to her bedroom and locking herself in. If I had any more anger left in me, I would have shouted after her that Seeley Booth was ALL man, through and through. She probably would have asked me to prove it. An all too temptating thought fleeting through. No, it wouldn't have been right. Seeley Booth may be all man, but he's a gentleman too.

Had she even noticed that she still had that towel wrapped around her? Maybe she was just too caught up in the argument and her emotions to notice. Maybe she wanted to frustrate the hell out of him. Well, it worked. I groaned again, my fist hitting the desk maybe a little more forcefully than necessary.

"You okay in there man?"

Damn, Charlie. Nosy little prick.

"Sorry, yeah, just..."

He smirked "Trouble in paradise?"

"Charlie..."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Smug little weazle sat himself down infront of my desk. "You're _just partners_. We all know the spiel."

"There's no spiel!"

"Oh, there's a spiel." Charlie sighed. When Booth was annoyed or frustrated, he was stubborn. "You know, Hottie McDoctorate has you wrapped around her little finger."

Inwards, I chuckled a bit at the nickname. The feminist in Bones would protest the living daylights out of that one.

"Seriosuly, have a little respect Charlie."

He held is hands up in defence.

"Hey, I have just as much respect for her as the next guy. But you gotta admit man, she's a babe."

"And for the record, she does not have me wrapped around her little finger."

"Say what you say, Booth. But she says jump, you say where, when and how high?"


	5. Chapter 5

So, first off, thank you sooo much to the people who are still bothering to read this after my severe lack of regular updates, you guys are magic :)

From Angela's POV

* * *

"So sweetie, what's going on?"

Temperance looked side to side, to make sure no one would overhear. Usually, she wouldn't have worried so much about what other people thought, but since Booth, well, she hadn't exactly been the same. She had once talked about helping him evolve, it's apparent his influence hadn't gone unnoticed.

She had chosen not to go to the Diner for lunch. Seems as though the whole Jeffersonian team were regulars there, and this time, Angela thought, it seemed a little more appropriate for a bit of anonymity.

"Things between Booth and I have become.... somewhat strained lately." She sighed, taking a sip of her iced tea. Still not looking Angela in the eye.

"Well yeah, sweetie. I can see that. We all can. Anything specific you want to mention?"

"You remember that talk we had years back? One of those situations where you're right, and I haven't caught up to my own reality."

Angela chuckled, "Yeah Bren, I remember."

"Well I'm pretty sure I've caught up."

"Awe, sweetie." She grabbed hold of her best friends hand for support. This was a revelation.

"The other night, when I was getting ready for my date with Daniel, Booth came around to my apartment, he proceeded to lecture me on my poor taste in men once again. Harsh words were thrown around. We both got angry, ended up having an argument, like always."

"He got jealous, didn't he?"

"Of course he won't admit it. I might not be the best with people skills, but I can tell he's lying when he says he's not jealous of the men I date. It's obvious in the tone of his voice."

"What happened then?"

"He told me that I deserved someone better, 'someone true to love me'. And I just..." Brennan snapped her head up, meeting Angela's eyes in an instant, "I just snapped, the words left my mouth before I even had time to think about what I was saying. I told him that he was a pussy, and that I was getting tired of waiting for him to 'man up'. I turned and locked myself into my bedroom, and didn't come out until I was certain he left. I cancelled on Daniel."

Angela was stunned.

"Whoa, you called G-Man a pussy? Way to go, Bren!"

"It just slipped out. Is that all you got out of that?"

"No sweetie, of course not. So this is why he's been so distant lately."

"I guess so. We haven't talked or seen each other, unless it's been case related. He's been avoiding me, as you know."

"You feel like you don't know what he wants from you?" Angela guessed.

"Yes, exactly right. I don't know whether he wants to drop the subject completely and forget it ever happened, or if he expects me to bring it up. I mean, he drew the damned line, he should be the one to erase it."

"Ah, the infamous 'line'. Do you want him to erase it?" _Please say yes, please say yes!_

"Yes. I've been thinking about it ever since our last 'talk', and I've come to realise that a monogamous relationship with Booth is something that I would like to pursue. Preferably sometime in the very near future. I've been meaning to talk with him about it, but then this happened."

_Wow, this certainly was a revelation. Angela knew that Brennan hadn't had a real serious relationship since Peter, and odd 4/5 years ago. Of course, there was Sully, but he wasn't in for the long haul, which didn't count in her eyes._

"What about your date with Daniel. If you'd decided on persuing a relationship with Booth, why the date?"

"It was intended purely for sex. I haven't been with a man, sexually for quite some time, since Mark, and well, you know how it goes. Speaking of which, how's the celibate life treating you?"

"Frustratingly annoying, but we're not here to talk about me, Bren. I want to ask you something, and I want your completely honest uncensored response. Do you love Booth?"

"I, I don't know if I love him. But Sweets once said that we have a an extremely deep emotional connection, work ties aside. I agree with him on that. I couldn't imagine being in an exclusive relationship with anyone else."

"Well," Angela replied, a mega watt smile gracing her features, "That's good enough for me. We're starting on a fantastic page, Bren. When do you think you'll sit him down and drop the bomb?"

"What bomb, Angela? This has nothing to do with explosives."

_Oh, boy. One step forward, two steps back._


End file.
